Review Revue: The King of Luxembourg – Sir

Simon Fisher Turner seems like a fascinating individual. He has been an actor on several BBC series; recorded music under his own name (both with and without his middle name) and as The King of Luxembourg and Deux Filles; and been a member of both the Portsmouth Sinfonia Orchestra and The The. Currently he makes music for – as Wikipedia puts it – “commercials for water, supermarkets and cancer research.” While King of Luxembourg appears to have been steeped in the sounds of sixties pop (or, as one DJ puts it, “ultra wimpy pop,”), his Soundescapes collaboration with Espen J Jörgensen, released by Mute Records in 2011, is an album of deeply experimental and strange electronic music. Obviously the man contains multitudes.

I don’t know if the KCMU gang were aware of any of this back story when Sir, the first King of Luxembourg album, came into the station, but it appears that, for the most part, they appreciated it on its own merits.

“Let the tale begin… An epic LP – hmmm.”

“‘Knave’ would have been a better title for this album.”

“He certainly is the crown prince of ultra wimpy pop. Not for all tastes, but I like.”

“Kinda groovy – #5.5 is a Beefheart cover.”

“They do a great cover of the Monkees’ ‘Valleri’ on the London Pavillion compilation. This is OK save for the dippy cover art & concept.”